


Dark Eyes, Darker Skies

by Writinginstardust



Category: The Aurora Cycle - Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff
Genre: Fin insists on overworking himself, Fluff, Hugs, M/M, Tyler cares a lot, finian needs a hug so bad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-09
Updated: 2020-05-09
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:13:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24090382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Writinginstardust/pseuds/Writinginstardust
Summary: Finian insists on overworking himself to the point of near collapse. When he gets injured yet again, Tyler is there to help and give him the hug he so desperately needs
Relationships: Tyler Jones/Finian de Karran de Seel
Kudos: 22





	Dark Eyes, Darker Skies

**Author's Note:**

> Look I just needed a Tylian hug okay?

I was about to fall asleep at the control console when it happened. It was my turn on watch and I’d been barely keeping my eyes open since I’d relieved my sister an hour ago. I hadn’t been alone though.

Fin had been neck deep in wires when I’d arrived and was still there now, fiddling with some system or other at my feet. Unusually for him, he hadn’t spoken a word to me and honestly, I wasn’t sure he was even aware that Scarlett and I had traded places. The silence had been concerning to say the least, but we were all a little off since what went down on Octavia, so I opted to leave him to it. That was, until a shouted curse and bright flash startled me awake. Looking down, I found a very frazzled looking Fin and a bank of smoking wires.

“Shit.” Finian’s voice was pained and shaky when he spoke, his hands trembling violently as he reached back into the mass. More sparks flew and he cursed again, a tremor running through his entire body and seemingly short-circuiting his suit as he was left imobile for a few moments. I could see the pain he was in in the lines of his face and the tension of his muscles and I decided that was just about enough.

“Fin?” I kept my voice soft as I slid from my seat to kneel beside him. He flicked his eyes across to me and I noted a hint of surprise in his dark gaze before he returned it to what he was working on before. A soft hum started coming from his suit and I watched him relax slightly as it eased his pain just a little. He was still clearly struggling to do anything much, but after stiffly flexing his fingers a few times, he dived right back into his work, never uttering a single word. 

It was frighteningly easy to pull him away from it a moment later and I felt an unpleasant twist in my gut at the evidence of just how weak he’d let himself become. There wasn’t a single word of complaint, not one sarcastic or flirtatious remark. He didn’t even try to put up a fight. Silent and practically limp in my arms, I wondered if he’d fallen asleep for a moment, it certainly wouldn’t be a surprise given how little sleep I knew he’d had in the last few days.

“Fin?” I asked again. “You okay?”

“‘m fine, Goldenboy,” he mumbled, voice strained, face contorting in pain as he tried to sit up in an effort to hide any sign of weakness as usual.

“Yeah,” I sighed. “You sure look fine.”

“I  _ am _ .”

“Just go and see Zila, please. You’re clearly not okay.”

“It doesn’t matter.” He flexed his fingers again and reached into his damaged suit for another tool. “I need to fix this or we’re not going to get very far.”

“We’ve got time Fin. You can do it when you’re healed. You’re just gonna hurt yourself more if you keep pushing it like this.”

“Tyler.” He looked at me then, exhausted but stubborn. “It doesn’t matter. The sooner I get this done, the sooner we can be on our way. That’s what’s important.”

“Of course it matters, Fin!” I had to fight to keep my voice down, his lack of care for his own well-being frustrating me beyond belief. Taking a deep breath, I reached out and took his still-trembling hand and spoke a little more softly. “You’re important too.”

He blinked, tilting his head to one side as if I’d asked him a particularly difficult astrometrics question. “Why?”

Maker, this boy was an idiot sometimes and I couldn’t help smiling just a little, even as I shook my head at him.

“Because I care about you Fin. Maker, you don’t make it easy, but I care about you and I hate seeing you hurt like this.”

He froze, completely and utterly still. The only sign he was even still alive was the tremors he couldn’t stop in his hands. Slowly his brow furrowed and his eyes seemed to refocus on me, his apparent shock dissipating. 

“What?”

“I said I-”

“No, I heard you.”

“Then what…?”

“I mean, I know I’m great, but I didn’t think you took any notice of me or even knew I existed until a week ago.”

“Of course I noticed you.” Now it was my turn to freeze. I just might have given away something more than I ever meant to. Of course Fin flirted with me constantly, but I never took it seriously since he was the same with everyone and I didn’t want to get my hopes up after crushing on him from afar for so long. He wasn’t supposed to know.

“Oh.” Yeah. He realised what that meant. I tried to gauge his expression, hoping just maybe he might have been serious too, but it wasn’t easy. Not with those bottomless, nearly unreadable,  ~~ beautiful ~~ dark eyes. I might have gotten a little lost in those eyes for a moment and nearly missed the pink staining his pale cheeks. Huh, I’d never seen a betraskan blush before. I knew they did, but I’d never actually seen it. It was cute. It also pretty effectively answered the question of how he felt too.

Slowly, whether from nerves or difficulty moving, he slipped his fingers between mine and squeezed gently, a small and, for once, genuine smile tugging at the corners of his lips. I smiled and squeezed back before using my grip to tug him into a hug. He hesitated before hugging me back, seemingly unfamiliar with tender physical contact, but the way he melted into me told me all I needed to know about how much he needed it.

“Please look after yourself,” I whispered into the ensuing quiet. “You’re important too.”

His response was slightly delayed as if he was going to argue, but eventually he just nodded against my shoulder. I knew I should probably get him to Zila as soon as possible given his condition, but he seemed content for now so we stayed sitting quietly on the floor for just a little while longer. After everything we’d already been through and with everything we were sure to go through before this was over, this small moment of peace and comfort was desperately needed and I decided to indulge in it for once. After all, neither of us knew when we might get another.


End file.
